THE invisible people feasted their guests royally．It was very funny to see the plates and dishes coming to the table and not to see anyone carrying them．It would have been funny even if they had moved along level with the floor，as you would expect things to do in invisible hands．But they didn’t．They progressed up the long dining-hall in a series of bounds or jumps．At the highest point of each jump a dish would be about fifteen feet up in the air；then it would come down and stop quite suddenly about three feet from the floor．When the dish contained anything like soup or stew the result was rather disastrous．

“I’m beginning to feel very inquisitive about these people，”whispered Eustace to Edmund．“Do you think they’re human at all ？ More like huge grasshoppers or giant frogs，I should say．”

“It does look like it，”said Edmund．“But don’t put the idea of the grasshoppers into Lucy’s head．She’s not too keen on insects；especially big ones．”

The meal would have been pleasanter if it had not been so exceedingly messy，and also if the conversation had not consisted entirely of agreements．The invisible people agreed about everything．Indeed most of their remarks were the sort it would not be easy to disagree with：“What I always say is，when a chap’s hungry，he likes some victuals，”or“Getting dark now；always does at night，”or even“Ah，you’ve come over the water. Powerful wet stuff，ain’t it ？”And Lucy could not help looking at the dark yawning entrance to the foot of the staircase-she could see it from where she sat-and wondering what she would find when she went up th